Not long ago,Timbalandthought he was tapped out.
At age 53, though, the producer worried he was aging out of innovation.
I thought it was over, Timbaland says, sitting in the sun-splashed studio of his Miami mansion.
Timbaland has made more than 50,000 songs with the generative AI tool Suno in recent months.Photo illustration by Matthew Cooley. Photograph in illustration by MIKAYLA WHITMORE.
Music is a young sport.
I am the best, right?
One of the best producers ever.
I can make the drums, but something about it dont hit the same way in this generation.
But then Timbaland met Baby Timbo.
He is downright evangelical about its capabilities, and recently signed on asa creative consultantfor the startup.
you’re free to put out great songs in minutes, he says.
I always wanted to do what Quincy Jones did with Michael JacksonsThrillerwhen he was [almost] 50.
So myThriller,to me, is this tool.
God presented this tool to me.
I just did four K-pop songs this morning!
Its still my taste, he says.
I dont have to go play it.
I can just know what I want to hear.
Youre talking about copyrights and this or that, he says.
No, man, its theory.
Its learning what is played on Earth….
If it had no knowledge, how can it give you back the answer?
So you got to give it knowledge.
And thats all it is.
Its going to elevate your job, he says.
It aint going to just operate on its own.
Are you gonna criticize it then?…
I never want to remove humans from what they do.
I just want to inspire them to do more.
He compares resistance from artists to early suspicion of Auto-Tuned vocals in the 2000s.
T-Pain was the only one to step in.
Same way Im doing with this.
T-Pain stood out there by himself.
The writers have all the power, Portillo argues.
Timbaland says hes already trying to get big-name artists to record some of these creations.
Whats the realest, rawest thing that itcantdo?
But Timbaland has little patience for that sentiment.
If you listen and you feel good, hows it losing humanity?
he asks, raising his voice in frustration.
Why are you beating yourself up on something thats in your body, that you feel?
